(Photo courtesy Canada Beef Inc.)

Klassen: Feeder cattle market holding value

Reading Time: 2 minutes Compared to last week, western Canadian yearling prices were steady to as much as $4 higher while calf values traded within $5 on either side of unchanged. Current feedlot margins are hovering around break-even, but profitability will improve during October and November, given the recent strength in the deferred live cattle futures. Therefore, short-keep feeders […] Read more

(Photo courtesy Canada Beef Inc.)

Feed weekly outlook: Cheap corn, Prairie harvest quality weigh on prices

Reading Time: 2 minutes CNS Canada — Cheap corn imports and adverse Prairie harvest conditions should mean no shortage of feed grain in Alberta’s feedlot alley this winter — which should also keep prices under pressure going forward. “Anytime you get a ripe crop and you get snow and rain falling on it, it normally doesn’t make better quality,” […] Read more


(Allan Dawson file photo)

Feed weekly outlook: Lethbridge feedlots buying U.S. corn

Reading Time: 2 minutes CNS Canada — As barley prices climb, feedlots around Lethbridge have found a cheaper feed option: corn from the U.S. “Price has (pushed feedlots to buy corn). Barley, it’s probably $4, $5 a tonne higher than corn price right now. And the cattle feeder can source corn quite easily and more economically than barley,” said […] Read more



(Photo courtesy Canada Beef Inc.)

Feed weekly outlook: Alberta feedlots prepared for supply issues

Reading Time: 3 minutes CNS Canada — Many regions of the Prairies expect some feed shortages this year, but Alberta feedlots have plans ready to deal with those issues. Bryan Walton, CEO of the Alberta Cattle Feeders’ Association, said overall conditions appear decent, although producers in drier areas have silaged barley rather than wait for harvest because of lighter […] Read more

Bread delivery, Nigerian-style. Most baking is done by hand in about 90,000 small bakeries and produced mainly for a local market.

CWRS makes inroads in Nigeria

Quality makes CWRS ideal for blending with other wheats for bread, but there are also possibilities for durum

Reading Time: 2 minutes As Nigeria’s population rapidly grows to make it the third-largest country in the world by 2050, according to the UN, demand has also been increasing for high-protein, high-quality Canada Western Red Spring (CWRS) wheat for food products. “The high-protein segment of the Nigerian market that was once (dominated by) U.S. wheat was completely replaced by […] Read more


(Stephen Ausmus photo courtesy ARS/USDA)

Wheat trade hoping for big export year

Reading Time: 3 minutes CNS Canada –– Canadian wheat growers could find themselves popular with international buyers this winter, as world wheat stocks hit lows not seen for a decade. Marlene Boersch, managing partner at Mercantile Consulting Venture, said the present 26-day wheat supply available to world markets, once China’s stockpiles are removed from the equation, should boost prices […] Read more

AAC Elevate has a yield advantage of about six per cent over Radiant, and agronomics are suitable across the Prairies.

Winter wheat varieties available or in the pipeline

These four varieties should make winter wheat more attractive to both farmers and customers

Reading Time: 3 minutes Higher milling quality and larger and more consistent supplies are key to expanded markets for Prairie winter wheat. Rob Graf, long-time breeder at Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada — Lethbridge Research and Development Centre, says four varieties either available or in the pipeline should help meet those goals. AAC Elevate Available since last fall, AAC Elevate […] Read more


Several promising new winter wheat varieties are being evaluated at the AAFC’s Lethbridge research station.

The great western winter wheat rescue is on

Researchers and marketers are combining their efforts to revitalize a crop stuck in a multi-year decline

Reading Time: 5 minutes It can yield up to 40 per cent higher than spring wheat. It’s competitive with weeds. It helps prevent soil erosion. It spreads out the farm workload, with seeding and harvest windows different from spring crops. It’s the world’s most common type of wheat traded. And it’s duck-friendly. So what’s not to like? You’d think […] Read more

The easiest measure of success in row crop production comes at the combine — a matter of quantity versus quality.

The protein advantage

In wheat, it can still pay to shoot for a protein-building combination of management, timing and a little luck

Reading Time: 7 minutes Among the mental pictures we associate with wheat, one of the more tantalizing depicts the healthy goodness of a basket of loaves of bread and different types of buns. Although it’s not the traditional vision of acres of wheat ripening in the sun, it’s still what the exercise is all about, producing top-quality food for […] Read more